Do you agree with our list? Who would be your choice for the greatest Roman Emperor? Let us know and don't forget to subscribe - bit.ly/32qv7fU

Trajan is my favorite, but this is a great list. I’m so glad I was able to go to Rome and see the remaining treasures of the empire. I was there in November and literally had Trajans market all to myself…it was goose bumps.

I wish the tv series Rome was longer than two seasons. It was beautiful and gave the blue print to GOT.

Augustus was the first and most successful Roman emperor. It is uncertain the empire could have survived if had not had been.

Good list, but I think Vespasian deserves to be higher. The guy virtually saved Rome from imploding and picked up the pieces from the mess of Nero's rule. Also restored honour to the position of Emperor.

My Top 10: 10. Justinian 9. Claudius 8. Domitian 7. Marcus Aurelius 6. Hadrian 5. Diocletian 4. Constantine 3. Aurelian 2. Trajan 1. Augustus

My list is 10. Majorian. Dude defied the odds! Smacked barbarians around and would’ve restored the empire if not for his betrayal! We were so close! 9. Gallienus. Despite setbacks he dealt with it contained countless issues and started reforms that would change the empire from the principate to the dominate. It’s a shock that assassins got to him before the stress and depression did. 8. Domitian. Brilliant administrator. Fixed inflation and the economy. Sadly his relations with the senate, while justifiable, got him killed. 7. Trajan. Brought the empire to its greatest extent. Had great success. But his conquests proved to be too much for the empire and they needed to be abandoned. 6. Marcus Aurelius. Had success in both Parthia and germania. A very intelligent and competent ruler. Although his son was meh. His conquests were arguably unsustainable. And personal his intellect gets inflated with being a great ruler. Still a damn good emperor. 5. Diocletian. Ended the crisis of the third century and brought order back to the empire. Made massive reforms to both the army and government that did a lot to keep the crisis from continuing. Promoted competent co emperors who alongside him ruled very capably in tackling the various issues at hand. Sadly some of his reforms backfired or died with him. Or had long term bad effects. 4. Hadrian. Consolidated the empire after Trajan went a bit too far. Built lots of great works. Ruled over a mostly peaceful empire. 3. Constantine. Besides introducing Christianity he also made reforms. Had numerous military successes. Ended a period of renewed civil war. Founded Constantinople and made it the new capital. 2. Aurelian. The empire likely would’ve collapsed without him. He reunited the empire and saved the day before his early death. Defeated countless foes. Made needed fixes to deal with the economy and deal with corruption and waste. Promoted very competent men who would later on rule the empire. Sadly a bit too harsh and that would lead to his death. 1. Augustus. Come on. No brainer. Former the empire. Genius politician and administrator. Reformed the army into a professional one. Multiple tax and administrative reforms. Military success (except Germania sadly). Long stable rule. Sadly shit luck with heirs.

Very uncontroversial list but I would say: 10:Claudius 9:Majorian 8:Marcus Aurelius 7:Domitian 6:Diocletian 5:Hadrian 4:Constantine 3:Trajan 2:Aurelian 1:Augustus

My list is 1. Augustus (obvious reasons) 2. Basil II (made the empire rich and strong) 3. Trajan (brought the empire to its height but he overextended it a tad bit) 4. Hadrian (he fixed all of trajans big problems) 5. Heraclius (restored the empires borders after succeeding phocas) 6. Constantine (meh Roman emperor great emperor for Byzantium) 7. Aurelian (restored the empire but the economy inflated even more preventing him from going up) 8. Domitian (the only emperor who controlled inflation) 9. Marcus Aurelius (came up to a challenge when he needed to) 10. John II (the best of the kommennian dynasty) 11. Antoninus pius (he had it easy but he did not fail at all) 12. Anastazius I (he helped gain the empire a massive surplus of money) 13. Justinian I (he gave the empire North Africa and made law more efficient but he was reckless) 14. Vespasian (he restabilized the empire and gave it money) 15. Diocletian (he had the empire become stable during his reign ending a massive crisis) 16. Alexios I (he started a period of restoration after a massive crisis) 17. Theodore I (he kept the empire alive after 1204) 18. Gallienus (he had to go through so much and he somehow managed to keep the empire alive while dealing with plague, countless usurpers,and countless invasions) 19. Maurice (I like home but he kinda caused the revolt that caused phocas to be emeperor) 20. Titus (Did not last enough time) 21. Claudius (he was overall pretty good) 22. Majorian (he almost had a miraculous restoration of the Western Roman Empire) 23. Probus (continued rebuilding the empire during the crisis of the third century) 24. Tiberius (he was like Domitian but worse 25. Michael VIII (he retook Constantinople from the Latin empire) 26. Gaius Julius Ceaser (lol) 11-25 are in no specific order

Antoninus Pius,the 'Eisenhower' of the Roman Empire, preserved the Pax Romana and wonderfully stabilized the government. His reign was solid and he was just and able.

Tiberius was proof that you could be personally abhorrent, but also an exceptional government administrator

Wonderful and informative video! Thank you!

My personal list for the Top 20 1. Augustus (Founder) 2. Trajan (Optimus Princeps) 3. Constantine (The Great) 4. Aurelian (Restoration) 5. Marcus Aurelius (Philosopher) 6. Hadrian (Great Builder) 7. Justinian I (Partial Restoration) 8. Domitian (Incredible Administration) 9. Basil II (Bulgar Slayer) 10. Valentinian I (The Angriest Man alive) 11. Claudius (Conquerer of Britannia) 12. Heraclius (Defeated the Persian Army to reclaim all the lost territories of the East, unfortunately the Arabs came immediately after to ruin everything) 13. Anastasius I (Effective Administration) 14. Majorian (So close....) 15. Vespasian (Brought peace back to Rome) 16. Gallienus (He tried, he really did) 17. Diocletian (Affectively ended the 3rd Century Crisis) 18. Nikephorus II (Great General) 19. Alexios I (Amazing Diplomat) 20. Valerian (Good General, unfortunate end)

Marcus Aurelius has no business being at 2. What did he accomplish over Aurelian, Trajan, and Hadrian?

Excellent, very enjoyable. I hope to see more of this channel.

Honestly if I could give a list it would be this: 10: Majorian (WE WERE THIS CLOSE) 9: Valentinian I (Very capable general and strong ruler during the 4th century) 8: Domitian (Fixed inflation, amazing administration) 7: Vespasian (Great general, decent ruler, maintained stability after the year of four emperors) 6: Antoninus Pius (Played on easy mode) 5: Marcus Aurelius (Very smart, capable general, fought off the Antonine Plague, and dealt with Parthia) 4: Hadrian (Stabilized the empire after Trajan, consolidated defenses, kept the military in top shape, and public monuments galore) 3: Trajan (I mean cmon, it’s pretty obvious, with Parthia and Dacia being some of the most impressive conquests done by Rome) 2: Aurelian (Although it’s pretty well known, it’s again fairly obvious why the restutor orbis is up so high, especially after doing all of that work within 5 years. 1: Augustus (Yeah pretty much predicted, set up an empire that would last for nearly 1500 years, crafty, expanded the empire, and pretty much the best you could get) Honorable mentions: Diocletian, Constantine, Claudius, Claudius Gothicus, Probus, Gallienus, Basil II, Justinian, and Heraclius

God damn. Claudius ahead of Hadrian is a bold choice.

My TOP 10 Greatest Roman Emperors: 10. Romulus Augustulus 9. Maximinus Thrax 8. Balbinus 7. Pupienus 6. Caracalla 5. Didius Julianus 4. Caligula 3. Elagabalus 2. Commodus 1. Honorius

Absurd to put Marcus Aurelius at number 2 when his decision to make his terrible son his heir had such an enormous negative impact on the empire.

Good narration.tq

What a wonderful topic to throw into the debating hall! I have to admit that I rate Augustus as not only the greatest Roman emperor but, with his relentless diligence, vision and statesmanship, the greatest autocratic ruler in history.

After further thought and research I respect more this last but I put Constantine THE GREAT at #3 5. AURELIAN 4. Marcus Aurelius 3. Constantine (THE GREAT) 2. Augustus 1. Trajan

Great video…

My top 10 would be: 10: Marcus Aurelius 9:Vespasian 8: Tiberius 7: Diocletian 6: Claudius 5: Hadrian 4: Constantine 3: Augustus 2: Aurelian 1: Trajan Now If we are talking favourites then Majorian and Aurelian all the way.

An honorable mention: Domitian.

Very interesting presentation!

My favorite is Hadrian. I had a school project for my finals about him and kinda grew to like him since then. Learned very much about him.

i love this video ❗️❤

Good list. Not sure why you left Diocletian out though; he should definitely be top ten. I like Claudius, but you could bump him.

There is a great novel about Octavian, called “Augustus.” Fiction based on lots of facts. I couldn’t recommend it more highly. Just get it and read it, so I won’t have to explain the unusual way in which it’s written.

I will NEVER understand how and why Constantine THE GREAT gets so UNfairly censured sometimes

as an Italian I can say that only the British can describe the Roman Empire at its best, the Raise and Fall of the roman empire by Gibbon is an example of that, a great empire can recognize another one

Glad to see Tiberius getting some respect, as I've long felt he is terribly underrated. One of Rome's greatest generals and a competent administrator, I honestly think the stories of his supposed debaucheries on Capri were complete fabrications. While he did commit some horrific deeds, particularly during the time of Sejanus and his subsequent downfall, so too did Augustus. Tiberius' drawback was his personality, as he had none of the natural charisma of his predecessor. And while not in this video, looking through the comments I'm glad to see Domitian making a few lists, as he's long had an undeserved reputations as a "bad" emperor.

1- Augustus 2- Constantine I 3- Trajan 4- Hadrian 5- Basile I or Basile II

Very good 👍

If Julius Caesar was not assassinated, he might have conquered Dacia, the Parthian empire, Germania, Britannia, Scotland, Iberia and even the northern lands of the empire, and he could be the first emperor of Rome. Caesar would likely made Octavion, his nephew as co-emperor in the east. Lastly, he himself could have established a proper succession code in for the empire to be firm against all odds.

Personally, I’ve always been more impressed generally with Eastern Roman emperors considering they had far less resources and a lot more enemies. For example, when the empire was on its last legs Constantine took over and ended all conflicts, and made so many changes and reforms to the empire that he bought the west another 150 years and the East an additional 1000+ years. Justinian fought more enemies and conquered more land than any other emperor despite having much less resources to do so. He conquered parts of France, Spain, Italy, the Balkans, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Crimea; defeating Sassanids, Vandals, Franks, Crimeans, Goths, Visigoths, Moors, etc. making him the most powerful man Medieval Europe ever saw. Basil II is the only Roman Emperor to singlehandedly double the size of the empire. Similarly to Constantine, he inherited a dying empire that was being chipped away from all sides. Somehow he managed to defeat all its foes and completely reformed & enriched the empire marking a great resurgence and third golden age for the Romans. He’s also the only emperor whose reign was longer than Augustus’s.

Please do a separate video on Augustus.

This channel is criminally underrated

Any one with a name Trajan, has got to be a great leader.

1. Augustus 2. Trajan 3. Hadrian 4. Vespasian 5. Aurelian 6. Domitian 7. Marcus Aurelius 8. Diocletian 9. Claudius 10. Titus I would put Marcus Aurelius higher but I can’t forgive him for Commodus

1. Diocletian 2. Augustus 3. Heraclius 4. Constantine I 5. Hadrian 6. Justinian 7. Trajan 8. Aurelian 9. Basil II 10. Marcus Aurelius 11. Anastasius I 12. Constantius III

Excellent narrator ☕🏺

Constantine should be much higher in the list, he completely reshaped the empire. He really can be compared in greatness only with Augustus who laid the foundations of the Roman state for centuries to come. There was also an interesting point about Domitian being in the top10 as he is the only Roman emperor who successfully fight with the inflation and strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage. You also have to admit that his image was surely posthumously denigrated. My list would be 1-2. Augustus and Constantine ex aequo 3. Trajan 4. Tiberius 5. Hadrian 6. Diocletian 7. Aurelian 8. Marcus Aurelius 9. Claudius 10-11. Valentinian I and Domitian ex aequo

I feel bad for Germanicus, the grand nephew of Tiberius. Tiberius should have chosen Germanicus instead of Caligula as his heir. He was one of the best emperors the Roman empire never had; Caligula might have never been insane, if his father guided him.

If we're talking pre-Byzantine the top ten are: 1. Diocletian 2. Augustus 3. Aurelian 4. Hadrian 5. Marcus Aurelius 6. Constantine 7. Trajan 8. Vespasian 9. Theodosius 10. Claudius 1 and 2 are real close, maybe a tie. Same with 4 and 5, there are pros and cons. 8-10 are considerably below the rest. If we're including the Byzantines then Justinian should be top 3 and probably Heraclius and Basil should be in there somewhere. The worst ones are the usurpers Maximinus Thrax and Phocas.

Nice...

No Antoninus Pius??? Blasphemy.

As someone carrying the names of 2 roman emperors ,im happy to see them both on the list ,i believe that Tiberius's reputation is mainly due to bad PR , his debaucharies were most likely invented by people who werent even his contemporaries

My list: (including the eastern empire) 10. Domitian One of the only emperors to ever fix the Roman economy and really good administration, only big issue is that the senate did not like and assassinated him. 9. Majorian and Gallienus Both are tied for me because in spite of the crises they faced in their time, not only did they push through and actually defied the odds, they actually had some semblance of fixing the problems of the Empire, sadly though, they got assassinated. 8. Diocletian Despite ending the crisis of the third century, I actually think he did one thing EXTREMELY wrong when it comes to longevity, the tetrarchy; It’s one of those ideas that sounded good on paper but as it goes with Roman politics, give anyone a glimpse that they could control something and they will use it to their advantage. But beyond that his reforms helped the Empire, though backfiring in the end because Rome just likes backhanding the efforts of good emperors with the incompetent and self indulging emperors after the successes of the ones before them. 7. Justinian The greatest Eastern Roman emperor, but undisputably one who drained all of the empire’s funds and resources. His successes and reforms helped the empire majorly, with eventually the reconquest of Italia and Roma in his name. He did some things wrong but the goods outweigh the wrongs a little bit. As for the plague, it was by circumstance and time, that and the 500s in general were the WORST years to live in with all the natural disasters happening at the same time. 6. Marcus Aurelius Success all around when it comes to military and reforms. Though his son, Commodus is pretty bad; He was a smart and great emperor all things considered. 5. Hadrian Hadrian had it easier than most, though I wouldn’t call an overstretch of an empire easy he took it, consolidated it and overall is one of the only emperors to rule over a peaceful Roma. Says a lot doesn’t it? 4. Trajan Though contributing to the overextension of the empire he was overall a great emperor and person. Someone who can disarm those who oppose him and someone who brought the empire to it’s greatest extent, though zenith of power was whenever Augustus was running around. 3. Antoninus Pius Odd to rank him over the likes of Trajan and Hadrian eh? But again like Hadrian he had it easy and ruled over a peaceful empire, with all the chaos surrounding the empire even back in his time it was surprising he ruled in peace. 2. Constantine the Great Ending the tetrarchy he ended what was one of the more chaotic times of the empire. He was a great emperor and overall did great things to strengthen a once dying empire, moving the capital to Constantinopole too because Roma was a little bit of a problem in contrast to the strategic location of Roma. 1. Aurelian and Augustus I rank them the same as they both are the greatest emperors in Roman history, I’ll split this into two sections because they are pretty contrasting. Augustus. Where do I start with the man who started the empire? The man who defied all odds and lived to his 70s despite the living standards back then and his underlying health problems. The man who killed the republic and started Pax Romana. The man who is the reason why so many of us exist today, Augustus us no doubt one the greatest emperor because of this, though having competition for first his successes, reforms and administration shaped what emperors AND kings would style themselves as for the next millennia. And now for Aurelian, Restitutor Orbis. The man who in spite of the greatest crisis the empire had faced in his time, took the throne and reconquered most of the Empire. The person who restored Rome and the world, conquering and killing off many of his foes. His reforms also made sure the Roman Empire even had a slither of survival for the next century; Had he lived any longer and he would’ve been a second Augustus, but what he did still constitutes him to be tied with Augustus for the greatest emperor in Roman history.

Very interesting, the music is awsome anybody knows the title?

I can't disagree at all, and really appreciate the inclusion of Tiberius. He had a sad family life and a particularly treacherous aide (Sejanus) and as a result trouble with much of the Senate. But not getting along with the puffed up nobles pales in comparison to the astounding job he did of running the empire. He kept the principate going, which was not at all a certainty after the death of Augustus.

Marcus Aurelius is forever the top tier. Battle the plague, war, income inequality, etc. He was a man of his philosophy and did it. His "Meditation Book". Was actually his personal journal that he carried with him. It was never meant for the publics eyes. No one in history could relate to that.

My top 20 1:Augustus (genius administrator and he has great prudence) 2:Trajan (great civil and military ruler; Rome was in her zenith) 3:Aurelian (no empire for Diocletian to save) 4:Diocletian (brought a new age of stability in relative terms) 5:Constantine (great military leader and made Byzantium the capital) 6:Basil II (great administrator and military leader) 7:John II komnenos (an emperor with no faults) 8:Alexios komnenos (savior of the empire nearing death) 9:Gallienus (a man who push through even in the darkest times) 10: Heraclius (more successful than gallienus, but he still oversaw Rome’s transformation into a local power) 11:Marcus Aurelius (great man, great ruler) 12:Majorian (similar to Aurelian but got assassinated) 13:Anastasius (Antoninus 2.0 but ruled in a more precarious time) 14:Hadrian (great ruler) 15:Antoninus pius (great ruler) 16: Justinian (great ruler, but reckless) 17:Constantine V(great ruler and administrator) 18:Maurice (great ruler, but lacks tact) 19:Claudius (great ruler) 20: Domitian (great ruler) Honorable mentions Tiberius (good ruler and general, but got weird and obscène later in his reign) Leo I (good ruler, able to root out the dangerous trend of Germanic influences in his court) Valentinian I (good military and administrative ruler) Constans II stabilized the empire during its worst century) Constantine IV and Leo III (great rulers and the “charles martel 2.0 and 3.0 of Europe”) John III vatatzes (similar to John II) Nikephoros phokas and John tzimiskes (great military generals) Theodore (similar to alexios) Basil I (started one of the best Roman dynasties and a good ruler in his own right) Manuel II (he really tried) Manuel I (pretty good but made some mistakes)

Second century Emperors (Trajan to Didius Julianus): 1. Trajan (Led Rome at its apex, conquering Dacia, Armenia and Mesopotamia; was able to delegate power effectively; oversaw extensive building programs, implemented social welfare reforms) 2. Hadrian (Wisely ended Roman expansionism, consolidated Roman power over the provinces; he toured the whole Empire, and built many public buildings everywhere; had the best thought out succession plan, having Antoninus Pius and then Marcus Aurelius succeed him) 3. Marcus Aurelius (Great philosopher; kept the Empire strong and healthy in times of trouble, winning several defensive wars, and helping it through the Antonine Plague; an incredible administrator from the beginning of his reign, probably due to taking over Antoninus' duties in the former's later reign) 4. Antoninus Pius (More than 20 years of peace; great administrator, kept the treasury full, expanded welfare, improved speech rights) 5. Lucius Verus (A bit of a degenerate, but he won the war with Parthia, and Marcus Aurelius kept him in his place) 6. Pertinax (Tried to make many reforms, but angered the Praetorian Guard into killing him) 7. Didius Julianus (Doomed to fail, couldn't gain support, assassinated) 8. Commodus (Rode off of his father's successes to see a peaceful reign; but he became incredibly dictatorial and tyrannical, a huge degenerate, played Gladiators while the Palace officials and Praetorian Guard gained ever more powerful; ended the Pax Romana)

I put Trajan above Augustus because 1) he had better succession “plan” and 2) Augustus did a lot of horrible things when he came to power. Just ask Cicero. There are disputes about how Hadrian became Trajan’s successor, though.

My list based on nothing is Augustus, Constantine, Justinian, Hadrian, Trajan.

No post-Theodosian emperors allowed. If there were, then Majorian would be somewhere on here, but Justinian certainly would not be. 1. Trajan 2. Augustus 3. Aurelian (interchangeable with 4) 4. Constantine 5. Hadrian 6. Marcus Aurelius 7. Claudius 8. Tiberius 9. Domitian 10. Vespasian (begrudgingly)

Good list. I'm one of those Rome fans who feels any Emperors after Marcus needs to seriously justify their existences on a Top 10, and your choices fit the bill; in fact, I would add one more: Diocletian, swapping Vespasian out for him. Delighted to see Tiberius on here; he deserves it. I think you rate Marcus a bit too high; it was because of his fondness for his son that the Empire began its downward spiral. I would rate 1 and 2 as the Romans did: Augustus and Trajan. Gus as #1 is the correct choice, btw, despite the Teens of KZfaq being tired of him. He invented most of it, after all.

Interesting that Tiberius, a good empower was followed by Caligula, a baddie, the came Claudius, followed by Nero, another baddie.

How do you leave out Elagabalus???????

I don’t know why people overlook Vespasian he put the empire together after the shitshow that was left behind by Nero. Was a great general and even better politician, he was not corrupt in a time where corruption was the norm and paved the way for the good emperor’s after him. Top 5 at least for me

My top 10 from Augustus to Theodosius (before the official split): 1: Augustus (Long and excellent rule, expanded and rebuilt a crumbling republic) 2: Hadrian (embodies the later Roman empire of consolidation, defense and buildings) 3: Trajan (embodies the early Roman empire of expansion, dominance, quelling rebellions+defeated Persia, Optimus Princeps) 4: Marcus Aurelian (restored the Roman empire in 5 years, probably would have been higher if he had lived longer) 5: Tiberius (surprisingly good ruler despite not being Augustus' top choice, efficient administration and a little tyrannical. BUT WHY DID YOU PICK CALIGULA) 6: Marcus Aurelius (dealt with the Antoine Plague and Persian invasion, did not give in to powerlust and co-ruled with verus plus philosopher) 7: Domitian (Was nice to the people except the Senate, was an excellent ruler despite coming to power expectedly after Titus' early death, THE ONLY EMPEROR THAT FIXED THE COINAGE INFLATION PROBLEMS) 8: Vespasian (Brought stability to the Empire after the the Year of the 4 emperors, saved Rome from potentially an early collapse, taught his children, Titus and Domitian to be amazing rulers) 9: Constantine I (Kind of overrated due to Christianity. Had lots of good moves like moving the capital to Constantinople, laws and prestige of Rome. However, he was powerlust, weakened the late Roman empire with civil wars and terrible succession system) 10: Claudius (Built lots of things, conquered Britain, setup good bureaucracy, too bad for his choice of succession) Honorable mentions: - Diocletian (Ended the crisis of the third century, made lots of needed reforms after a long period of none. Most of them were good ideas but hard to enforce like the tetrarchy, military reforms, provincial reforms. Some bad things like coinage reforms causing inflation, telling people that emperors were chosen by the gods leading to the future rise of Monarchies and class distinctions in Europe. Basically, most of his reforms fell away quickly after he abdicated from power. He definitely tried to solve every issue though, I wonder how his reforms would have went if it happened during a more stable period) - Gallienus (was a good ruler but wasn't good enough for the crisis of the third century. SO MANY USURPERS) - Antoninus Pius (played the game on easy mode after Hadrian and Trajan, probably the best time to live in the Roman era with stability everywhere. He was the only emperor at that time that ruled longer than Augustus. He should have drilled his troops more) - Titus (Was very caring of the people, dealt with mount Vesuvius eruption very well, sacked Jerusalem, opened the coliseum. I truly believe he would have been a top 5 emperor if he had ruled for more than 2 years together with his brother, Domitian)

Diocletian too

Glad to c Marcus in the forefront there!

"felicior Augustus, Melior Triano"

The trajan column: "a testimony to his faith even two centuries after his death..." wrong! even almost two MILLENIALS after his death

Diocletian not incorporated in the list? Wow.

I absolutely love their names

Third century Emperors (Septimius Severus to Carinus) 1. Aurelian (Restored army discipline, tried to fix the broken economy, improved defenses, defeated several barbarians, crushed the Palmyrenes and Gauls to restore Rome) 2. Gallienus (Defeated many barbarians, and after his father was captured, defeated several usurpers, reformed the army, religiously tolerant, vigorously promoted cultural revival) 3. Septimius Severus (Excellent general: won the civil war, defeated the Parthians and expanded Roman frontiers in Africa and Arabia, put the Praetorians in their place, stamped out corruption; started the over-militarization of Rome, severely debased the denarius) 4. Probus (Excellent general, maintained harmonius govt relations, defeated many barbarians) 5. Claudius Gothicus (Destroyed the Gothic invasion, defeated the Alemmani; died too soon) 6. Severus Alexander (Rebalanced the economy somewhat, restored Roman virtue unlike his predecessor, religiously tolerant; bad general, dependent on his mother) 7. Carus (Defeated the Sassanids and some barbarians; struck by lightning less than a year in his reign) 8. Philippus (Maintained power for SIX years, kept reasonable peace; killed by treacherous rebels) 9. Tacitus (Defeated some barbarians; got sick and died) 10. Valerian (Maintained Roman virtue, fought the Persians; captured by said Persians) 11. Macrinus (Good diplomacy, tried to fix the economy; overthrown by the still living Severans) 12. Gordian III (Almost won the Persian war; a puppet ruler, puppetmaster died suspiciously before dying in battle) 13. Numerian (Did basically nothing; got sick/was poisoned) 14. Florianus (Failed to be recognized by the army, got killed by his troops during a civil war with Probus) 15. Quintillus (Did basically nothing, stood no chance against Aurelian) 16. Aemilianus (Decided to usurp rather than continue fighting the Goths, destroyed by Valerian after a few months) 17. Gordian II (Defeated and killed by Maximinus' loyalist because he had no real army) 18. Gordian I (Forced at swordpoint to rebel, couldn't even command his troops, committed suicide) 19. Decius (Decent politician, killed by the Goths, persecuted the Christians) 20. Carinus (Got too thirsty for his own good, after he was beat by Diocletian) 21 & 22. Pupienus & Balbinus (Couldn't trust each other when their lives depended on it, generally incapable rulers, killed by the Praetorians) 23. Trebonianus Gallus (Severely debased the currency, failed to respond to barbarian attacks) 24. Maximinus Thrax (Antagonized civil authority in favor of military despotism, unbalanced the economy, opened up the possibility of Emperorship to literally everyone) 25. Geta (Tyrannical and mistrustful of his brother, lasted too short to cause damage) 26. Caracalla (Gave citizenship to all free men; Tyrannical and mistrustful of his brother, killed him, did whatever he wanted, overpatronized the army, terrible diplomat) 27. Elagabalus (Unwilling and incompetent child puppet, Syrian religious fanatic, oversaw continued stagnation of Roman military discipline and the economy in general)

it was a respectable list until you put Marcus aurelius above Trajan

Domitian is pretty underrated imo

Costatine may your soul rest well till we meet in heaven,hope you're there bro.

1.Marcus Aurelius 2.Marcus Aurelius 3.Marcus Aurelius 4.Marcus Aurelius 5.Marcus Aurelius 6.Marcus Aurelius 7.Marcus Aurelius 8.Marcus Aurelius 9.Marcus Aurelius 10.last but not least... Marcus Aurelius

Lets be honest the top 7/8 should be the same names, just in different orders for people.

Man really put Tiberius before Constantine, Aurelian and Justinian?

Where would Elagabus rank?

First century Emperors: (Augustus to Nerva) 1. Augustus (founded the Empire, oversaw expansion to Asia, Egypt, Pannonia and Hispania, brilliant politician and administrator) 2. Domitian (top notch administrator, fixed inflation, improved the defenses) 3. Claudius (oversaw plenty of construction, solid administrator, expanded the empire into Mauretania and Britain) 4. Vespasian (Brought stability to Rome after a civil war, oversaw construction projects like the Colosseum) 5. Tiberius (While a jerk, he was a capable ruler and avoided wasting money; consolidated territory rather than expanding it; however his changes to the Praetorian Guard would result in countless assassinations) 6. Titus (defeated the Jewish Revolt, constructed buildings, helped relieve Rome after a fire, and Pompeiians after the eruption; however he died so soon) 7. Nerva (oversaw stagnation, but he picked Trajan) 8. Nero (actually decent in his early reign: contributed to culture and trade, chose diplomacy first, rebuilt Rome after the fire, was popular with the people; but he persecuted the Christians, wasn't really capable, and his death caused a brutal civil war) 9. Otho (not good, but killed himself rather than prolong a civil war) 10. Galba (unenergetic and tyrannical) 11. Vitellius (Incapable doofus, so weak he couldn't abdicate) 12. Caligula (degenerate fool who nearly bankrupted the Empire, tyrannical and used heavy corruption just to not die)

Felicior Augusto, melior Traiano

We just gonna pretended that Majorian wasn't an S tier emperor

Tiberius?!

Bit of a shame Tiber Septim wasn’t given an honorable mention here.

Augustus remains the sole holder of the first rank of political genius.

How is emperor Marcus Aurelius not number one??

How the hell can you put aurelianus at #7? He's easily the greatest roman emperor of all time, and the only bad thing he did was die too early.

Aurelian should have a month after his name.

As a Romanian, I'm happy to see Trajan here

Aurelian at number 7? You must be drinking bad posca. Without him the Roman Empire would have died in the 200s.

You spelled No. 10, JUSTINIAN, incorrectly! 0:56

The Illyrians (🇦🇱) contributed a lot to the Roman/Byzantine Empire 🦅 (Fearsome Warriors). Here is the list of Roman Emperors 🤴 of Illyrian origin (🇦🇱): - Justinian I - Justin I - Anastasius I - Marcianus - Valentinian II - Gratian - Valens - Valentinian I - Jovian - Constantius II - Constantine the Great - Maximianus "Herculius - Diocletian - Probus - Aurelian - Quintillus - Claudius II "Gothicus - Hostilianus - Decius Source: The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century A.D. to the Third by Edward N. Luttwak, page 178, "high-grade cavalry (equites Illyriciani)" This region was late Romanized. It was famous for its excellent soldiers, frustrated but courageous. In Illyria (in the geographical sense) was indeed the most powerful of the Roman armies, in charge of watching over the Danube (nearly 12 legions, that is to say 130 000 men) .

great list. I would remove Justinian as Eastern Roman Emperor and Claudius (he was between mediocre and good emperor, but overrated in popular culture thanks to Graves), changing them, for example, to Constantius II and Valentinian I. But I would have all the other people on the list.

Augustus remind me if my father, he is a natural builder

What’s the criterion here? The most successful militarily? The one whose actions have been most consequential? The one who pursued a balanced government? Or the wisest? It really depends. If consequential government is the criterion, then Augustus, Aurelian, Constantine and Justinian as well as Heraclius (610-641 AD) are hardly beatable, but the most interesting characters ever to rule the empire we’re probably Hadrian and most of all Julian

Traianus (Trajan) was born in a Turdetanian noble family. Turdetanians were an Iberian people, from the Baetica, and by that time, very romanized (in fact, with Latin/Roman citizeship). He's considered as Turdetanian originary. In fact, after Dion Casio and Herodiano, he was an alloethnes (a man of another race) and an externus (a foreginer). And that's the difference with Claudius, since the last was born out of Rome/ Italy "by accident" (so to say), but he was absolutely from a Roman noble family (the Julio-Claudian dinasty), while Traianus was absolutley non-Italic/Roman originary, and that's why he's considered the first "non-Roman" Roman emperor, if that makes sense. However, back then all the Baetica had the Latin citizenship, and many cities had even the Roman citizenship, which had nothing to do with anything. *His family was of ancient Romanized Turdetana lineage, descendant of the Trahil, belonging to the indigenous elites. The father was a Trahius, who could've been later adopted by his father-in-law, an 'Ulpius, but this is openly disputed and there's no strong evidence for it.* So, to say, he didn't have any Ulpii influences in him but this is commonly known by now. Anyways the Iberian people Trajan comes from and his native Iberian lineage is highly underrated.

ROME had been been the most powerfull country in Europe. The European history was shaped by ROME starting from code of Law, Collosium, Gladiators, and at last the POPES ...DR DAVID JOSEPH

I found this to be weirdest list of emperors... I really don't get your reasoning behind it. You never gave a personal reason behind this. I don't get it. I've been a tour guide in Rome for 12 years and my question to you is: how can you leave out Antonino from the list?!

augustus number 1 shocker

An " honorable mention " should be Constantine XI ,who led the valiant defense in the fall of Constantinople and the FINAL end of the Roman Empire. He'd made all listed here proud !!

idk bout this list dawg, diocletian deserves a mention, tiberius and claudius way too high, trajan is almost unanimously number 2, aurelian a bit too low, and maybe you could have considered to mention some succesful generals (say stilicho, aetius or majorian)

Are they all round the fence to the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. They all cried at the departure of Zuleika Dobson.